On April 22, 2021, China’s Supreme People’s Court issued the The People’s Court Intellectual Property Judicial Protection Plan (2021-2025) (人民法院知识产权司法保护规划 (2021-2025年)) for implementation by lower courts throughout China. The Plan lists 5 main points: General Requirements (e.g., guiding ideology of Xi Jinping Thought); Giving full play to the functions of intellectual property trials (e.g., efficient litigation); Deepening the reform and innovation in the field of intellectual property trials (e.g., improve IP Courts); Optimizing the working mechanism of intellectual property protection …
Author: Aaron Wininger
Aaron Wininger is a Principal and Director of the China Intellectual Property at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner.
Chinese Patent Grants Up 77% in First Quarter of 2021
In recently released data from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), invention patent grants have increased 77% in the first quarter of 2021 year-on-year. Utility model patent grants are up 72% and design patent grants are up 14%. There is no filing data as CNIPA has ceased releasing patent application filing data since December 2020 but CNIPA has budgeted for a potential 50+% drop in the coming years.
Suspended Prison Sentences, Fine and Civil Compensation for Infringement of Chinese Trademark ‘STIHL’
According to an report in 宁波日报, an unnamed Ningbo company infringed Andreas Stihl AG & Co. KG’s Chinese trademark for ‘STIHL’ by manufacturing over 19,000 chain saws worth 225,000 RMB (about $34,000 USD) bearing the STIHL trademark without authorization. On April 9, 2021, the Yuyao Court, where the case was heard, sentenced the Ningbo company to a 120,000 RMB fine and imposed additional 80,000 RMB to 120,000 RMB fines on three defendants. The three defendants were also sentenced from two …
China Releases Interpretation of the Measures Regarding the Regulation of Patent Applications That May Prevent Some IP Holding Companies from Successfully Prosecuting Patent Applications
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the “Measures Regarding the Regulation of Patent Applications” (关于规范申请专利行为的办法) on March 11, 2021. China is continuing the transition from quantity to quality in patent applications and one method is to reject ‘abnormal’ or ‘irregular’ patent applications as defined in the Measures. These measures and the concurrent elimination of monetary incentives for patent filings should decrease the total number of applications filed in China as quality increases. CNIPA itself is budgeting a potential …